Excerpt & Giveaway with Elise K. Ackers

Author Elise K. Ackers is here with us today sharing an exclusive excerpt from her latest release, Ask Me To Stay. Welcome back to The Book Vixen Elise!

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This scene takes places minutes after the wake for Dean’s late wife, Bree. The two brothers, Ethan and Dean Foster, have not spoken to each other for years and now they are in the kitchen of Dean’s house, arguing about a woman named Mona who Ethan had lured outside and sent home. Because Ethan only comes home for critical moments (weddings, funerals, etc.), Dean only ever sees him in the same suit. Which at the moment, is just another thing fuelling his temper.

‘She came back telling anyone who’d listen that you’d tricked her away from Bree’s wake!’ Dean said.

Ethan finished loading the glassware in the dishwasher and returned to the sink. ‘I said what I had to, to get her to leave. The woman was going to cause a scene.’ He dragged the bottom shelf out and began loading plates.

‘You made a scene for her! It was all anyone could talk about!’

‘Really? Never mind that she turned up looking like a one-night stand.’

‘We expect nothing less of her. But no one expected you to take her up on the offer!’

‘Because I’m clearly shagging her right now.’

‘This isn’t about you, Ethan!’

‘Damned if I thought it was!’

Ethan carried his bad temper into the living room. His hands shook as he reached for more plates to clear away. Dean followed, impatient to continue their row.

‘I’m getting goddamn fed up with that suit, let me tell you.’

Ethan swallowed the comeback that threatened and returned to the kitchen, his arms overloaded. He rinsed and stacked in silence, content to be Dean’s whipping boy only because the man was grieving.

‘What’ll it be next, huh? Ro’s graduation?’ The boy was eight. It was a well-aimed jab. ‘How long are you sticking around for this time? Where do you go when you disappear for years on end?’

‘I thought this wasn’t about me?’

‘You made it about you when you came home.’

‘I came back, I didn’t come home.’

‘Damn it, Ethan, I can’t deal with this. Go back to wherever it is that you came from. And next time there’s a suit occasion just bloody stay away. Do us all a favour.’

Ethan threw cutlery into the sink. The noise was like a scream. He wiped his hands on the dishcloth then held them over his head. Although it near choked him to do it, he left the room without a word.

He passed Sammy in the hallway. Her pink cheeks and rounded eyes suggested she’d heard more than she’d meant to. She clutched napkins and tablecloths to her chest. Sometime in the last half-hour she’d kicked off her shoes. He clapped her on the back and moved upstairs.

The hallway was bathed in the fading light of day. Long shadows stretched along the beige carpet, in other places it burned gold. The western-facing window in his childhood bedroom also opened the space up to the sun. Light saturated the bedspread, the desk chair and the faded rug between.

He ignored it all as he strode to his suitcase and threw open the lid. Wrapped within a hooded jacket was a bottle of whisky. He uncapped it and drank from the neck. It burned. After a number of mouthfuls it began to warm. After a number more, it began to dull everything.

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Elise K. Ackers is from Melbourne, Australia. She writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense and is published with Destiny Romance and Escape Publishing. Elise is an animal foster carer, a magnet for unusual accidents and an enthusiastic couch commentator. Ask Me To Stay: A Homeland Book is her fourth book. The second title in the Homeland series, Ask Me For More, will be available in July 2013.

Find the author online: website | twitter | facebook

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Title: Ask Me To Stay
Author: Elise K. Ackers
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published/Release Date: April 10, 2013 by Destiny Romance

When family tragedy brings bad boy Ethan Foster home, he doesn't expect a warm welcome. In the small town of Hinterdown reputation is everything - and Ethan's was ruined long ago. Nobody wants him around, particularly not Sam O'Hara, the girl he left behind.

There's still a powerful spark between them, but Sam is afraid to risk her heart again. And Ethan is hiding a secret that will have repercussions for his whole family. Will the townspeople ever forgive him? More importantly, will those he loves the most find it in their hearts to take him back?

 

You can also buy this book at Destiny Romance

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Thanks to Elise K. Ackers, one lucky winner will receive an ebook copy of Ask Me To Stay. Good luck to all who enter!

• No purchase necessary.
• Must be 18 years old or older to enter.
• Giveaway open Internationally. Void where prohibited.
• Comments are appreciated, however, you must fill out the Rafflecopter form in order to enter this giveaway.
• Please read TBV's Giveaway Policy before entering.
• Giveaway ends 9:01 pm (Pacific Time) on 4/29/2013.

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